Yes, you are certainly right that there exist various levels or kinds of plagiarism. I typically see them as either (1) plagiarism of ignorance or laziness (I either didn’t know what counted as plagiarism or didn’t cite diligently enough – what you call “unintentional” plagiarism) or (2) plagiarism of deception (I am taking the work of another and intentionally passing it off as my own – what you call “intentional” plagiarism). The later form is what I was trying to reflect upon in this experiment. I like you terminology of “intentional” and “unintentional”. Thanks for your thoughts.

]]>By: Felixhttps://theologyforum.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/plagiarism-the-seven-deadly-sins/#comment-24107
Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:33:33 +0000http://theologyforum.wordpress.com/?p=4094#comment-24107Interesting analysis of plagiarism. In one sense, any complex sins can probably be rooted in the seven deadly sins. Your analysis would apply to “pure” plagiarism–that is, where a student truly copies another source and chooses not to reference it.

As Norris Friesen noted though, there are other more pragmatic, or even more innocent reasons for plagiarism. Sometimes, students who are caught “plagiarizing” might have been caught because they:

1. have not been sufficiently taught how to footnote or reference a source;
2. do not understand what is considered sufficient paraphrasing;
3. come from cultures that have a broader understanding of ownership of knowledge.

Perhaps it would be helpful to distinguish between intentional and unintentional plagiarism?

]]>By: 2 Links on Pastoral Ministry and Plagiarism « A Chorus of Echoeshttps://theologyforum.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/plagiarism-the-seven-deadly-sins/#comment-24103
Mon, 03 Jan 2011 06:42:55 +0000http://theologyforum.wordpress.com/?p=4094#comment-24103[…] Plagiarism & the Seven Deadly Sins: It’s one of the most unique article I’ve read treating plagiarism in a unique theological light. Written by Kent Eilers over at Theology Forum, it is sure to generate some meaningful reaction from readers. […]
]]>By: Flotsam and jetsam (12/27) « scientia et sapientiahttps://theologyforum.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/plagiarism-the-seven-deadly-sins/#comment-24034
Mon, 27 Dec 2010 16:21:51 +0000http://theologyforum.wordpress.com/?p=4094#comment-24034[…] Eilers has a nice post on Plagiarism & the Seven Deadly Sins. Pride – Plagiarism is driven by the refusal of limitation. A student comes up against their own […]
]]>By: brettongarciahttps://theologyforum.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/plagiarism-the-seven-deadly-sins/#comment-24012
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 19:28:06 +0000http://theologyforum.wordpress.com/?p=4094#comment-24012What I finally began considering, just before I quit? Tentatively accepting that student’s papers were going to be a cut-and-paste job; but accepting that in the Internet age, that was going to be inevitable. And then … turning this to good use.

Mere paraphrase would help; but would not change the essential borrowing. So I began entertaining the hypothesis that most of us are living on the accumlated knowledge of others in any case; why not accept this? And find creativity in the new post-modern genre: what was known in Modern Art, by French terms like “Pastiche.” Or “assemblage.” Assembling old parts … but in new ways?

If you’re not willing to do this: many universities now have programs, or even a staffer, whose job it is to take a suspect paper, and then search the internet for the source. But I doubt these are very successful. I never used these services myself; and my own efforts to do this on my own, were not too successful.

So: “post modern pastiche”? Even ask them to use five sources; with attributions. Then assemble them in their own original way?

Postmodern Pastiche.

[Teaching the Deadly Sins is good too though. What America needs more than anything, particularly, are millions of sermons on … Gluttony. Which can be generalized, by examining gluttony, excessive consumption, of all sorts of different consumables.]

]]>By: Norris Friesenhttps://theologyforum.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/plagiarism-the-seven-deadly-sins/#comment-24005
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:19:58 +0000http://theologyforum.wordpress.com/?p=4094#comment-24005Kent invited me to share a few comments. I think Kent’s analysis is rather unique and provides an excellent perspective. I am not sure how it fits, but I wonder if there isn’t a more pragmatic reason as to why students plagiarize and that is out of ignorance. I wonder if we do an adequate job of teaching how to use resources appropriately. Students often find a good source which says what they want to say and don’t know how to paraphrase it, so they stitch it into the paper and don’t quote it. This is emphasized in Academic Research and Writing, but it is hard to break these habits. I realize that many students often procrastinate and as a result, try to find a quick way to finish the project and hope they can fly under the radar, so to speak. It is definitely a problem and with access to so many resources on the internet, it will continue to be a challenge. I wonder if a chapel series or something on the seven sins might be a way to bring the discussion to a more visible level. Thanks again for engaging the discussion.

Those are great questions. I am not at all sure how to answer them. Part of the problem is that there are so many different models of the good life–even at xian universities–that a discussion of the seven won’t make as much sense as we would like.

After teaching a lengthy section this past semester on the tradition of the seven I had to remind the students over and over again that we are talking about vices and virtues and not discrete unrepeated actions. They had a hard time seeing how itty-bitty sins could really lead to big sins (they act like they understand it for a time but their papers and comments seem to reveal that they do not).

So perhaps the best venue is an ethics course where the different ways of understanding ethics are explicitly considered. I am partial to McIntyre and Anscombe’s claim that the foundations of ethics have been removed (by the way, for an amazing new book on this same theme see Talbot Brewer’s _The Retrieval of Ethics_), that the virtue tradition is where to look to reestablish those foundations, and that a lot of work in other areas needs to be done to even begin to complete the job.

What are your thoughts here? I have a feeling that you’ve thought about this a bit and have some interesting ideas.

Your post, Kent, is a very interesting one, and I apologize for not saying so at the start.

]]>By: brettongarciahttps://theologyforum.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/plagiarism-the-seven-deadly-sins/#comment-23989
Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:21:21 +0000http://theologyforum.wordpress.com/?p=4094#comment-23989Plagiarism is also “bearing false witness.” Or simply, “lying.” As well as theft.

By the way, plagiarism is almost impossible to prevent, in take-home papers, in the age of the Internet.

One of the reasons I stopped teaching at universities.

]]>By: Kent Eilershttps://theologyforum.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/plagiarism-the-seven-deadly-sins/#comment-23987
Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:19:17 +0000http://theologyforum.wordpress.com/?p=4094#comment-23987Very helpful comments David. I was hoping you would stop in and contribute from your expertise in this area.

I am curious, what do you think it would it look like for a Christian University to talk about these issues with its students? In what settings would it be most effective? When? Etc.